168 WITH SCOTT : THE SILVER LINING 



Sherlockian logic, I decided to follow the shorter-pace footsteps, 

 judging that the weary owner would walk with less u vim ' 

 returning, and they seemed to be " slurred " also. Finally, 

 a mile ahead I saw some skua gulls wheeling about, and sure 

 enough below them I found our tent. 



When I reached camp 1 found that Wright and Debenham 

 had both met parties of seals. We all thought of the constant 

 stream along the tide crack by our last dep6t, and came to the 

 conclusion that this was largely fresh water, and formed the 

 main drainage of the Upper Koettlitz. By this sub-glacial 

 stream the seals penetrated nearly thirty miles inland up the 

 Koettlitz Glacier. 



February 26, 191 1. — It seemed advisable to take the 

 sledge as far up the Koettlitz as we could without waste of 

 time. So we portaged all our loads out of the cul-de-sac over - 

 a moraine col and so reached the outer margin of the low 

 level moraine, where another avenue of smooth ice ran parallel 

 to the Grand Canal which we had been using. About two 

 miles to the west we passed a seal and its hole. Soon the 

 pinnacle ice came in so close that there was barely room to 

 squeeze in between it and the moraine. We had one spill 

 within a few yards of our final camp, and unfortunately it 

 resulted in the destruction of the focussing screen of my 

 camera. In a sheltered bay among the moraine heaps we 

 pitched our furthest camp, where we remained four days. 



About 2.30 we started for Heald Island, which lay three 

 miles to the south across a tumbled sea of ice practically 

 impassable for sledges. (This island is placed too far to the 

 south on the Discovery Map.) 



First we crossed the definite line of high pinnacles which 

 extended almost continuously for twenty miles parallel to the 

 coast. This we called Stonehenge structure, for many ice 

 masses strongly recalled the Druid monoliths. Then over 

 a comparatively level area of honeycomb ice between low 

 bastions. Finally we reached wide level lanes with a thirty 

 foot wall on the side facing the sun, while the opposite wall 

 sloped much more gently and was fretted into plough-shares. 



Looking back towards our camp we were facing north 

 towards the sun, so that we saw the sheltered side of the 

 moraine heaps. The whole surface seemed to be snow- 

 covered. Yet from the opposite aspect the moraines seemed 



